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Greetings, loved ones! (Starting with these Snoop Dogg—Lion? —lyrics has become a tradition.) My name is Anna Mathias, and I am a sophomore majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Fashion Merchandising at the University of South Carolina. I am ecstatic to be returning for my fifth semester as a Style Guru for CollegeFashionista! I honestly can’t believe this is my STYLE GURU BIO number five. Being a part of the CollegeFashionista team has been absolutely incredible. I’ve learned so much, and I can’t wait to get this semester of style started!

Ralph Lauren once said, “Fashion is not necessarily about labels. It’s not about brands. It’s about something else that comes from within you.” I could not agree more with this statement. Style should not strictly be dictated by what’s shown each season on the runway. To me, personal style is way more important than buying all of the most popular brand-named items. The clothes we choose to wear convey to the world who we are and who we want to be. Your individual style should reflect your personality. Style shouldn’t be a reflection of what society is telling us to wear. I’ll be honest; I love to fall into the trends of the runway—shoutout to the sneaker wedge. Even though some of my style is always keeping up with “the next big thing,” I try to stay true to wearing what I like simply because I want to. Don’t be afraid to be different. In the wise words of Alexander McQueen, “It’s a new era in fashion—there are no rules.”

As for my style, it’s all about contrasts. There’s a perfect combination of edgy and girly that I most often find myself wearing. Pretty much every day you can expect me to wear an oversized watch, shoes that make me the height of an average human instead of 5’1” and lots of black. I probably wear too much black, but in the words of Neiman Marcus, “Women who wear black lead colorful lives.”

I could not be more excited about this summer. I will be in New York City interning for CollegeFashionista and Karla Otto, an international fashion public relations firm. I can’t wait to hit the streets and show off the amazing style the city is known for. Look for my STYLE ADVICE OF THE WEEK post every Monday!